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After weeks of financial turmoil, Russia effectively devalued the ruble Monday–a move that is expected to cause hardship for Russian consumers. The Central Bank said it would permit the value of the ruble to fall about 34 percent–from about 6.3 to the dollar to 9.5 to the dollar. The price for dollars on the street immediately jumped as high as 9.5 rubles. President Boris Yeltsin, who had cut short his vacation and returned to his country residence outside Moscow, met Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko for a briefing, the Interfax news agency reported, citing presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky. The government “needed to take effective steps in the current situation, and we have done that,” Kiriyenko said before meeting Yeltsin.
